Head
Coach: Justin
Spitzer
517-256-6365 (cell)
Email: jcspitzer@yahoo.com (he
checks his email frequently)
2011 marks Justin's 25th
year with Heatherfield! This is his 13th season as head coach and he
is also one of the original members of the team (founded in 1985 when Justin was
6). Justin is starting to feel old since he coached the other 5 assistant
coaches for years - most of them since they were 8 & unders! He swam
competitively with Heatherfield in the summer and various winter programs
(including 4 seasons at Central Dauphin High School) from age 6 through 18.
His favorite and best stroke has always been breaststroke - in fact when he was
6, Justin was faster in breaststroke than in freestyle! While at C.D., Justin had the privilege of swimming with future Olympic
gold/silver medalist
Jeremy Linn.
A Harrisburg native, Justin is a
graduate of The University of Michigan with a B.A. in History and also
holds a Masters degree in American History from the University of
Connecticut. Outside of swimming, Justin's hobbies include hiking,
reading, traveling,
and following his favorite sports teams - The University of Michigan football
team in particular. He has hiked extensively throughout the
U.S., including a 2,150+ mile thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to
Maine in 2001 and a 275 mile thru-hike of Vermont's Long Trail in 2006. His
most recent hiking adventure was a 17 hour, 50 mile hike across Zion National
Park in southern Utah!
Justin moved to Utah (Kamas, near Park City) in August 2008 where he teaches U.S. History and
coaches the swim team at a private high school. He had the good fortunate
to coach the Utah 3A state champion in the 200IM this past winter. Needless to say, he loves
the mountains, canyons, and arches of Utah and spends much of his free time
exploring Utah's peaks and National Parks. Even though he may be two
time zones away, he's not letting that stop him from returning to Heatherfield
to coach his favorite swim team again this summer!
Assistant Coach: Leah
Harper
Email: lmh83+@pitt.edu
717-756-2155 (cell)
Leah swam
for Heatherfield for 12 years, and is thrilled
to be coming back for her 3rd year as a
full-time coach this summer (5th year overall).
In addition to setting numerous team records at
Heatherfield, Leah capped her senior year by
anchoring the mid-cap champion 200 free relay
team (where she was joined by current fellow
coaches Elsie Whitman and Katie Lelinski).
She swam with the West Shore YMCA in the winters
for seven years and swam for Collegiate Aquatics
for one winter season, in addition to swimming
for the CD High School swim team for four
seasons. She
is finishing up her junior year at the
University
of
Pittsburgh where she continued her swimming
career and is majoring in marine biology.
Until the end of April she'll be continuing her
study-abroad program on the Caribbean island of
Bonaire.
Outside of swimming, Leah loves to eat
(especially fruit and desserts) and play bass.
She played with many ensembles throughout high
school, including the jazz band, jazz combo,
orchestra, and wind ensemble, and participates
in jazz and other ensembles outside of school as
well. Currently,
she is a member of the Lower Paxton Township
Variety Band, which plays outdoor concerts
throughout the area.
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Assistant Coach: Elsie
Whitman
Email: esw5055@psu.edu
717-645-6336 (cell)
Elsie started swimming for Heatherfield
in 1997 when she was only six years old.
She swam for Central Dauphin all four
years of high school and swam in the
past for LPAC as well. Her senior
year she made districts in the 50 free, and
the 200 and 400 free relays for the
second year in a row. She joined Leah on
the mid-cap champion 200 free relay team
in 2008.
Elsie will be
entering her fourth summer as an
assistant coach and giving back to the
team has been a wonderful experience for
her. The team becomes her family in the
summer and after all these years she has
really grown to love Heatherfield. She's
been looking forward to the summer
season for a while now and can’t wait to
coach again this summer!
She is a sophomore at Penn State
University, majoring in art. Outside of swimming,
Elsie enjoys going out to eat with
friends, watching movies, baking, and
spending time outdoors...especially at
the beach!
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Assistant Coach: Chip
Benedict
Email: chip.bened@gmail.com
717-557-6315 (cell)
Chip
started swimming for the Heatherfield Swim Team in 1996, when he was 7 years
old. He completed his Heatherfield swimming career in 2007, highlighted by
a 1st place finish and team record in the 50fly.
Chip
swam for several winter teams through the years, including the Otters, WSY and
LPAC. He also swam for his high school, Bishop McDevitt. He was Team
Captain during his junior and senior years. His favorite stroke is the
butterfly. During his years at Bishop McDevitt, Chip was a District
Qualifier all four years, and a State Qualifier for his final 3 years.
Taking 7th
place in the PIAA State Championship during his senior year was one of the high
points in Chip’s swimming career. In addition, he holds several
Heatherfield, LPAC and Bishop McDevitt records.
During
his senior year in high school Chip obtained the rank of Eagle Scout. This
spring Chip will graduate from Bloomsburg University with a degree in
speech pathology and plans to start grad school in the fall.
He
was a member of the
Huskies’ men’s swim team as well. Besides swimming, Chip enjoys watching movies
with friends, listening to Dave Matthews Band, camping, hiking, rock climbing,
reading and spending time with family and friends.
Assistant Coach: Alex Ametrano
Alex swam for
Heatherfield from 2004 (at the age of 12) until 2010.
In the winter he swam for LPAC since the team first started and for
Bishop McDevitt for all 4 years of high school.
During his Senior year, he qualified for Districts in the 200 Free, 100
Fly, and 200 Medley Relay. Outside
of swimming, Alex enjoys reading, collecting sports cards, and hanging out with
friends.
Alex is currently studying Biochemistry at the University of Scranton and hopes
to work in the field of Pathology one day. He
is very excited to join the Heatherfield coaching staff and looks forward to a
great summer season!
Two of our "junior assistants" - Luke
Benedict and Katie Lelinksi - will be returning to help coach again this summer.
For these two graduating seniors, this will also (sadly!) be their last summer
as swimmers for Heatherfield.